Jason Moran

Composer, Hell Fighter

Jazz pianist and composer Jason Moran is the Artistic Director for Jazz at The Kennedy Center. Currently part of our Creative Team for Hellfighter, Moran consistently keeps a close relationship with music and activism. Within jazz, his multimedia tributes to Thelonious Monk, Fats Waller, and James Reese Europe have shifted the jazz paradigm combining striking visuals, music and history into masterful works.

Moran was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2010. His 21 year relationship with his trio The Bandwagon (with drummer Nasheet Waits and bassist Tarus Mateen) has resulted in a profound discography for Blue Note Records and Yes Records; a label he co-owns with his wife, singer and composer Alicia Hall Moran. The scope of Moran’s collaborators is extensive. He has collaborated with major art world figures as Adrian Piper, Joan Jonas, Glenn Ligon, Adam Pendleton, Lorna Simpson, and Kara Walker; Moran composed 5 scores for choreographer Alonzo King's Lines Ballet Company, two for Ronald K. Brown's Evidence Dance Company. He scored the stage and upcoming HBO film adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates' masterpiece Between the World and Me.